Britain's Got Talent 2015: Ratings surge as 11.7m peak tune in to second episode

Over half the British TV viewing public saw 12-year-old Henry Gallagher perform his self-penned love song

BGT contestant Henry Gallagher (ITV)

From The X-Factor to The Voice, ratings for TV talent shows have drastically dropped in the past few years - yet one show has bucked the trend.

Over half the UK TV viewing public tuned in to the second episode of Britain’s Got Talent’s current series, pulling in a peak audience of 11.7 million on Saturday night -almost half a million more than the launch episode.

The show featured performances by magician Jamie Raven and 12-year-old Henry Gallagher, who impressed the judges and studio audience with a self-penned song about wanting a girl at school to notice him.

Also performing to an audience that exceeded 10 million people on average were dance group 'Boyband' and singer Becky O'Brian.

Simon Cowell’s long-running show is the highest rated ITV programme of the year so far, having taken a 52 percent share of viewers on Saturday.

But the series has not come without its hiccups, with one contestant being investigated by the RSPCA due to complaints about the treatment of his 'talking dog'.